IPL 2019: Is this the end of the road for Shakib Al Hasan this season?
The 11th match of this year's IPL was an absolute treat for all Hyderabad fans. It was one of those rare days when two batsmen from the same team brought up their centuries in the same innings.
Both Jonny Bairstow and David Warner were more than a delight to watch and in the absence of Kane Williamson, they took up some responsibility and racked up a 185 run partnership which was also incidentally the highest opening partnership ever in the IPL.
Post their display, Mohammad Nabi literally ran through the Bangalore batting order to help his team secure a huge 120 run win. With Warner back in the team after serving a 1-year ban and Bairstow's good run of form providing dividends, there is one star player who might not feature in any more matches this season and that is Shakib Al Hasan.
The Indian Premier League rules permit only four foreign players to be fielded by a team in a match. Until last year, Bairstow was not a part of Hyderabad's plans and Warner was serving his ban which meant that there were two overseas slots up for grabs, one of which was permanently held by Shakib.
The other one was filled by Nabi. However, with Warner's return to the team and Bairstow's excellent form, two out of the four overseas slots are taken up by these two. The third slot is reserved for the Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan.
There is no debate as to who the better player is between Shakib and Rashid. Even though Rashid's exploits with the bat aren't as good as Shakib's, his bowling performances are enough to warrant him a spot in the side.
Rashid Khan has bailed his team out on numerous occasions and there is no way the leggie will make way for the Bangladeshi star. The fourth slot, which was being used by Shakib Al Hasan till now, belongs to his skipper, Kane Williamson.
Even if one of the aforementioned players gets injured, Mohammad Nabi, following his performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore, will probably feature as the fourth foreign player ahead of Shakib.
It will be very disappointing for a player of his caliber to watch games from the sidelines and he will certainly not be happy about it.
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